Since 1945, Calabria had been focused on producing wine within the Riverina, but demand and a desire, particularly from Head Winemaker Bill Calabria, for a more diverse and premium portfolio led the family to purchase its first vineyard in the Barossa in 2011.
Now, Calabria owns three premium vineyards in the region as well as a cellar door, which is slated to open in 2019. The cellar door will showcase Calabria's wines from the Barossa including Italian varietals such as Montepulciano and Durif.
Calabria Family Wines Sales and Marketing Manager and Bill Calabria's son, Andrew Calabria, told drinks bulletin, "It's a big change for us as a family, but a positive one.
"It's always been a dream of Dad's to be in another region. We wanted to stay in New South Wales, and we looked in the Hunter and Southern Highlands, but talking to all of our markets overseas, everyone just recognises the Barossa."
Now with a portfolio spanning two regions and inclusive of premium wines, Andrew said that the company is positioned to move further into new and existing export markets, with 70 per cent of its production currently sold overseas.
"For us, it's about having a portfolio of wines that we can offer to all of our customers, in all export markets. It's about having something that we can hang our hat on and that's been happening with our Barossa supply."
The new site in the Riverina was originally built by Italian company Cinzano in 1976 and later became the ASX listed Cranswick Estate. It was purchased by The Wine Group in 2006 and has been used to make bulk wine ever since.
The site will give Calabria 18 million litres of extra storage capacity, 3,000 square metres of cold store warehousing and 22,000 tonnes of crushing capacity.
“We are fortunate to have a great footprint in export markets and this expansion allows us to concentrate on supply for our brands which have been growing at a significant rate,” Andrew added.
Share the content
